In the 文始真經 'Wen Shi Zhen Jing' aka the "關尹子" "Guan Yin Zi", written in nine chapters; ~ Chinese text- http://ctext.org/wenshi-zhenjing & http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%97%9C%E5%B0%B9%E5%AD%90
"The Wenshi zhenjing does not appear until the Yuan dynasty, when it is mentioned in Chen Zhensun's Zhizhai shuluyjieti , dated to 1240. It was probably compiled by the Quanzhen patriarch Yin Zhiping (1169-1251), an alleged descendant of Guan Yin. Before that time, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, remnants of an older text are mentioned in various Song bibliographies, but they have not survived."
Here's my brief summary of the 4th and 5th chapters and explanation how it applies to Baguazhang training:
{After 1, 2, then 3...} there are The 'Four Symbols' (四符) -
The Shen is fire. Jing is water. Without Jing we die [of old age, burning out, and disease]. Suddenly or abruptly, when we're without Shen, we will also die [accidental death or killed].
The Shen is the head, the Jing is the tail. We need both our head and tail to live.
Jing is water and using water we clear away the dirt and sand to find gold. Gold is the 'Po'.
Shen is fire, the 'Hun' is wood, and by burning the wood we produce the 'Hun'.
The '4 Symbols': 水为精为天，火为神为地，木为魂为人，金为魄为物。
{Water is 精 Jing (Essence) and 天 Tian (Sky); Fire is 神 Shen (Spirit) and the 地 Di (Ground); Wood is 魂 Hun (Ethereal Soul) and the 人 Ren (Person); Gold is 魄 Po (Corporeal Soul) and the 物 Wu (Creature).}
All living creatures have the '4 symbols'. The 'Po' is the primal, instinctual thing that drives the mind during the day, the 'Hun' dreams at night, learns from what happened the previous day so that the next day the 'Po' can be adapted and have learned from experiences. Animals live their whole lives under control of their Hun and Po.
The human 'Po', because Gold is found in the Ground (地 Di) that from our 神 Shen (Spirit) comes our 意 'Yi'. From the 'Yi' we get our emotions (our Shen is now Xin-Shen (emotional spirit) and our 意 'Yi' also imparts our 'awareness of self', the higher consciousness, and we are able to make careful, meticulous plans and calculations and contemplate the workings of the universe.
The 'Yi' is related to the Earth and we have the 'Five Elements' (Wu Xing) and it's Cycles: [1- Intent (意 'Yi') / Earth (土 Tǔ)] leads to --> [2-Physical/ Corporeal (魄 Po) / Gold (金 jīn)] --> [3- Essence (精 Jing) / Water (水 shuǐ)] --> [4- Ethereal 魂 Hun / Wood (木 Mù)] --> [5- Desires (心神 Xin-Shen) / Fire (火 Huǒ)] and back to #1.
#1 - The Earth/ 'Yi', can contain or conceal gold, it's where fire is started or it can be thrown over a fire and snuff it out, it can be used to dam up water or divert water to flow in the direction you want, but the Earth is always growing plants and trees (Wood), as all the creatures of the world need to sleep, but the quality and growth of the Wood is determined by the amount of Water it gets (Jing - our Intrinsic Health). So our 意 'Yi' is the most important part as it's our control over every other factor.
The 意 'Yi' is our ability to control what and when we eat. If the food is good then it increases our physical constitution (魄 Po), the 'Po', like all creatures is all the things they need to do in the day to survive. The 'Yi' controls the 'Po' by determining what we do in the day. If we constantly overexert ourselves or succumb to addictive substances and behaviors then our constitution/ 'Po' is weakened which begins to deplete our 精 'Jing'.
If your 'Jing' is healthy, then you have a strong will (志 'Zhi' - Water Element); and a strong water element will affect the 魂 'Hun' (wood) which will allow your dreams/ personal truth to be wholly obtainable and the things you learned during the day will be set in your mind/ truly learned and closer to something that can be habit/ or done with little to no thought.
Healthy dreams (healthy 魂 'Hun'), allow one to awaken calm, without depression and ready to tackle the day, and the 心神 'Xin-Shen' (Emotional Spirit/ Wants and Desires) can be fulfilled and, in turn, your ability to focus your 意 'Yi' is then stronger, and the cycle is repeated.
So the only thing we really have control over is our own 意 'Yi' and in order to improve and ultimately control the other 4 aspects is first done through making good decisions about what we eat and drink, which supports the health of the spleen and ultimately all the organs of the body.
Then determining what we physically and mentally do, the actions we undertake in a day can also be under our control, or of our own volition, rather than being driven solely by our instincts. But to be truly beneficial it needs to be done through our 意 'Yi' intent, with focus, intentional.
Any type of work or labor, under a boss or under duress of time or making money, whether it's physical labor or mental work while sitting at a desk, is not really beneficial as it's working under time constraints and the need to get the job finished, so it ends up being either too physically or too mentally demanding and can deplete the Jing and Shen. You will still dream about what you do during the day no matter but compounding the issue is if you don't enjoy your work then your dreams will be bad and you wake up a little worse off each day.
Just up and quitting one's job is probably not an option either, so, if the intake of good food and water is already being covered, then we need to work at playing (玩 wán) while exercising. An exercise where you're physically moving, while using 意 'Yi' (intent), but it's something you enjoy, it's fun, it's not too physically demanding, nor too complex which would make it too mentally demanding.
It needs to be just the right amount of physical exertion ( breathing is associated with the 'Po' ) combined with just enough self-discovery and use of imagination so that it both stimulates the 'Po' and the 'Hun'. (If your 'XinShen'/ Emotional Spirit/Mind is out of whack it can overact on your 意 'Yi' and tell you "If just a little bit of play is good, then a lot of play should be really good!" and in turn increases the heart rate, compounding the bad state of the 'Xin-Shen').
So pacing one's own self is priority #1, not only by being guided by your breathing and heart rate but also other changes like if you're adapting to the practice by getting stronger or making adaptations in accordance to the seasons, weather, and temperature and how much or how little you sweat, is there increased blood flow getting to the extremities, etc., if the intensity of the practice is not stimulating enough then increments need to happen at a quicker pace. To lax in one's practice is no better than lying on a couch.
If you only practice/play every other day or 3rd day or once a week then you may tend to become anxious in anticipation and will likely overdo it every time you practice. You need to make it a habit, like the necessity to eat and drink can become something people enjoy, so by doing it everyday of every week it becomes not only something your body needs but you feel better after doing it and it allows you to see how your body can adapt to the cycles of nature and seasonal changes. Nature keeps changing everyday and you miss out on it if you're only practicing every other day and miss even more if you practice even less than that.
Over time, you will gradually increase the quality and increment the levels of the physical exercise and the amount of mental 'intent' (意 'Yi') you put into it.
After some time, this manner of practice and playfulness can also be put into the things you need to do everyday, like cooking food, making tea, etc. but not rigid or confined as it needs to be constantly changing so that you're learning and challenging yourself.
Martial Arts and in particular the Chinese Internal Martial Arts are designed to fit into this way of practicing and in turn help to increase not only one's martial skills but also the physical, mental, and emotional health of the practitioner.
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